


The Dragon Within

by Tamasha



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Arthur tries to be good, Blood Drinking, Captivity, Castles, Dark, Dragon!Merlin, Dragons, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hurt Merlin, Killing, Magic, One Shot, Pre-Slash, Sad, Scotland, Vampire!Arthur, Vampires, Violence, humanoid Merlin, morgana dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-20 22:34:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16564391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamasha/pseuds/Tamasha
Summary: Arthur-the-vampire hears about his sister's mistreatment of humans, and he decides he needs to find her and end her evil acts. When he stops for a snack on some human blood, though, he finds someone interesting who is very different than he expected.





	The Dragon Within

**Author's Note:**

> written by Natasha

Arthur strides through the maze-like halls of the castle his sister had claimed for herself, and with it, prisoners from the nearby village. There are no lights; it is damp and moldy. He moves quickly, though he is not bothered by the disrepair. No, a vampire does not need mortal comfort, but even he could tell that the place was falling apart. Still, he pays it no mind, for his mind is on the fight he just finished with his sister.

He had grown up with Morgana, had even been changed with her. She was his only sister, and even so soon after her death by his own hands, he still loved her. So the adrenaline coursing through his veins isn’t only because of the recent fight; he hadn’t wanted to kill her. 

When he came here yesterday, he bargained with her at first, but she refused, laughing off his earnest words. Then, when she grew bored, she turned violent. She had become accustomed to the power she had in this place and she did not want to let it go. In fact, she wanted more. And here, deep in the mountains of Scotland, she could easily establish a foothold and start spreading influence before anyone noticed. Anyone besides her nosy brother, that is.

Morgana had attacked first, but Arthur had known it might come to this, and he had been prepared. In the end, he was the better fighter; he had more endurance. He drank her dry and then with a shaky arm, he thrust his stake through her heart. He had hewn it himself on his journey up here. If he had to kill her, he wanted it to be done right.

And now it is over. 

There is nothing left of his sister remaining in except a pile of ashes and her remaining energy in his own body. 

When a vampire bleeds another and feeds on it, he gains her strength and energy until her blood leaves the system. During that time, though, Arthur’s hunger is doubled. He is feeling thirsty already, considering drinking from one of the villagers before releasing the rest back to their homes. Morgana had showed him last night what she called “her collection” which left Arthur horrified. This was why she had to be put down. Vampires prey on humans; it is the natural way of things. He can’t expect to change that. But Morgana had changed from hunter to psychopath. She kept her prey chained up and beautified, enthralled so they professed their love, and she kept them alive as long as she could.

Eventually, Arthur comes to the large oak door that separates Morgana’s section of the castle from her collections’. She didn’t bother to keep them in fine quarters; she didn’t have any reason to. So when Arthur opens the door, he walks into what would have been a stable when the castle was in use. The eyes that turn to him as he steps onto the moldy straw she had lain down weeks ago are bewildered and disoriented. The enthrallment will be fading now that Morgana is dead, and these are minds that have been trapped for months, maybe years. It will take a long time before they are restored fully to their original state. That is, if they recover at all.

Arthur surveys the room first, counting some twenty-odd prisoners. Then he begins to stroll the aisle, unlocking each door as he passes. The stalls are still just horse stalls - the humans can probably climb out on their own once their senses recover enough - but Arthur decides to let them out now and hurry along the process. He feels responsible for cleaning up this mess, but he doesn’t really want anything to do with it.

When he nears the back, he has decided to save one of the humans to feed on. They hardly deserve to be tortured any more, but he can be quick and painless. He is hungry, after all. In the last stall, he grabs the wrist of the brown-haired man inside. As he pulls the man towards him, though, the man speaks. “There’s one more. You’ve forgotten one.” Arthur doesn’t tend to converse with his meals, but the man seems relatively level-headed for coming out of an enthrallment spell, so he might be telling the truth. Perhaps he has not been enthralled for very long. And if there is one more, Arthur should let him free too.

“Where?” he asks coolly, loosening his grip. The man points dumbly with his free hand to a smaller wooden door, perhaps once used as a storage room. Arthur lets go of the man and he runs. So be it. If there isn’t another human after all, there are plenty of others standing confused in their stalls.

He strides to the door and when his hand touches the handle, he feels a tingle going up his wrist. The door doesn’t budge and the tingle intensifies. This door has been spelled. Arthur raises his brows, intrigued. Why on Earth would Morgana keep the door locked with magic if she keeps her humans enthralled anyway? He regards the door for a moment, trying to sense what she did to it. A vampire’s magic is weak, except when it comes to mind control, and Arthur was never very talented with it anyway. Not like Morgana.

He growls deep in his chest, growing frustrated with this puzzle. In a moment, he will just give up and feed on another human instead. No, he can’t undo her magic. But his strength is enhanced by her blood. Perhaps…

Using his entire body, Arthur throws himself at the door and it collapses inward. The magic fizzles as the door breaks, but he feels it flow away over his skin and it hurts. He shakes off the feeling and then looks into the room. It is small and bare. The floor is merely dirt. In the back corner, pressed against the wall with wide eyes, is the human.

“Hello,” Arthur purrs. “You must be special.”

“Why?” the human croaks. Arthur cocks his head, cataloguing. The man has dark, shaggy hair, unkempt. His face is smudged with dirt, as are his hands and bare feet. His clothes are worn thin, and they don’t fit well. His body is thin and bony. Morgana had not fed him well, as she did the others. His cheekbones stand out starkly and Arthur finds it appealing. And his eyes… well, those clear blue eyes were never enthralled. This one has a free mind.

Arthur smiles slowly, showing his teeth.

“You’re the same as her,” the human accuses. His accent is thick with a country burr. “A vampire.” He doesn't seem terribly frightened, though, vampire or not.

Arthur shrugs. The man steps out from the corner and Arthur watches in curiosity as he holds out his wrist with a sigh of resignation. This is quite unusual. “I won’t bleed you like she did,” Arthur warns, though he is not sure why he is bothering. He should just do it, make it quick and pain-free. “I’ll drain you entirely, kill you.”

The man laughs. He actually laughs! But his grin is mesmerizing and Arthur just watches in fascination. “Didn’t she tell you? You can’t kill me that easily.” His grin fades a little, but his wrist is still held out, an offering Arthur should just take advantage of. But he doesn’t. Not yet.

“Morgana is dead. She didn’t tell me anything.”

The man sobers immediately. “You killed her?” Arthur nods. There is no point in lying. “Why?”

Arthur considers. He is getting hungrier by the moment, but somehow, he feels this man deserves an honest answer. And he can’t kill him yet. The timing just isn’t right. But the time will come. Arthur cannot be overpowered or outrun. And he will feed, or else he will die.

“She lost her mind to ambition. She had become cruel, and thus, a blight. I had no choice but to destroy her.”

“You cared about her, didn’t you?” The man scratches his head, unaware that Arthur has now tensed up, ready to attack. That comment was too insightful. No one should know that; no one alive, anyway. This topic is private and too raw to discuss. Arthur shouldn’t be playing with his food anyway. In a heartbeat, he rams against the man, shoving away his proffered wrist and moving the head to reveal a long, pale neck. “So now I am your plaything,” the man grunts from beneath Arthur’s ministrations. Arthur pauses to give him a glare, but really it’s his own fault. He never should have played with his food. He pushes the head farther sideways and then bites down into the pliant flesh.

It takes a few minutes to drain a human body. A vampire can do it much faster than a human would take to naturally bleed out. Normally, though, that still leaves up to two or three minutes for the human to be alive. The fangs release a natural venom that causes the victim to get sleepy or fall unconscious, though, so those minutes are not usually a hassle for the vampire. However, this human… he fights back. He doesn’t become passive at all.

Arthur traps his hands and holds him down with ease, but not without surprise. Three minutes pass. Four. This is wrong. He should be unconscious by now. He should be dead! At about five minutes, Arthur feels sated. The man is weakening, finally, but he is still very much conscious. Arthur had meant to kill him, but… why is it taking so long? The man  _ is _ special. Morgana had gotten her claws into something very unique. And while Arthur thinks he could maybe drink the man dry, with the extra energy and hunger from killing Morgana, something stops him. The man’s tenacity speaks for itself, and Arthur thinks that perhaps he deserves to go on living.

He releases the man, who then slumps in his arms, and pants slightly from his effort. The man’s blood dribbles down his chin, but Arthur doesn’t wipe it. He feels good. The blood is delicious, better than any other human’s. And the man himself… well, Arthur is thinking maybe he liked that he put up a fight.

After a moment, the blood in the man’s wound starts congealing. Arthur pulls back to watch in fascination. His prey rights himself and puts a hand wearily on his neck. “See?” he says, and Arthur raises both brows. “I told you I wouldn’t die so easily. Though Morgana never fed so long. I thought, for a moment…” The man pauses and then shakes his head. “Well. Now what? You can’t put me back in my cage.” He gestures unhelpfully toward the broken down door.

Arthur is shocked by this man’s resilience. Not that any human would still be alive, after that. He should know by now to expect something different. Slowly, Arthur wipes the blood from his chin. “How… how do you do it? How are you able to withstand a feeding like that?”

The human grins. He takes his hand off his neck, where it looks like the bleeding has already stopped entirely. “I’m a dragon,” he announces proudly. Arthur just stares at him. He sighs and his shoulders droop a little. “I really am. Or I was, I don’t know. Morgana, she… she caught me sleeping, and cast a spell on me. Now I am human, and I can’t even use my magic.” The man is looking at the ground now, ashamed and also angry. Arthur’s breath catches. He might be telling the truth, Morgana would be able to cast a spell like that. He closes his eyes and reaches out mentally. He might not be able to enthrall anyone, but he can probably tell if the man is lying. “My magic still serves me, though. I’m tougher than any human should be, and I heal quickly. I might not be able to control it, but… it’s not gone.” Arthur opens up his eyes and Merlin is staring back at him. Merlin. When he reached out, Merlin let him right in. Arthur could see his honesty, like an open book. He is Merlin, a great blue and silver beast. He lived in the mountains and kept away from humans, but he had been alone. And when Morgana, another immortal, approached him, he had been so excited that he trusted her immediately. And that night, she had broken his trust to add a prize to her collection.

“I’m sorry,” Arthur breathes. “I was too late. I should have killed her sooner.”

Merlin frowns. “You didn’t know. Besides, she’s not your responsibility.” The dragon-man steps forward to walk out into the stable and Arthur moves to the side to let him. He has already decided not to kill Merlin. But he’s not entirely sure what to do with him. He could set him free, as he did the humans, but Merlin can’t go home. He is not the man he was. He never was a man. And Arthur doesn’t have the power to restore him to his proper state. In fact, he is not sure he knows anyone who could. Morgana was the most powerful vampire he knew. Perhaps another dragon could do it, but where would he find one of those? Dragons are reclusive, and dying out, in addition. Merlin could very well be the last dragon in the world! Arthur has never seen one before, he wouldn’t know.

Merlin starts to walk down the aisle, looking in each stall. The humans are gone, though. Arthur would have heard if any had remained. He sighs, watching Merlin. “She was my responsibility; she was my sister.” Merlin pauses.

“What is a sister?”

Arthur’s blinks, confused. “A sister?” Apparently, he truly had been secluded. “Well, she had the same parents as me. In our case, actually, just the same father. Her mother died before he met my mother.” Merlin turns back to look at him from across the room, lips pursed.

“So how does that make her your responsibility?”

Arthur struggles for an answer. He steps forward and then stops. “Our father died a long time ago. He was human. The vampire who turned us, Morgause - she is gone too. I was the only one my sister had to look after her.” It had always been like that between them. They took care of each other. Not in the last couple of decades, though. That was when she started changing, and they grew apart. Arthur already lived in London, and the distance was enough that they didn’t bother to cross it very often. He was lucky to have discerned as much as he did when his sister lost her sense of reason.

Merlin looks unconvinced. “I think she made her own choices. She seemed able to care for herself, anyway. It was others that she didn’t care about.” His voice is cold, uncaring. Arthur shrivels in on himself.

“Yes, I suppose so. She wasn’t always like that, you know.” He shakes his head sadly. “But that was why I had to kill her. She wasn’t herself anymore. She had become cruel.”

Merlin’s harsh features soften. “It happens. When you live for so long, the lives of those around you start to seem insignificant.” Arthur moves suddenly, approaching Merlin the dragon. He grabs his face and looks into his eyes. Besides other vampires, Arthur has never met another being comparable to himself. He is intensely curious, but also worried. What is Merlin capable of?

“Have you lived that long? Do you kill humans too?” he asks sharply. Arthur kills, of course, but only when he needs to. He doesn’t want to be the monster that his kind is made out to be.

Merlin lets himself be manhandled, but then he pulls his face away, once Arthur has had a look. “I have before. Usually, I ate cattle or horses. They are more filling, and I used to be quite large.” He narrows his eyes in thought. “I need to eat. Just as you do.”

Arthur nods decisively. “Of course. We are hunters.” But then, he cocks his head. “Except, you are human now. Do you eat like one?”

“I’m afraid so,” Merlin says with a grimace. “Humans eat animals, too, but Morgana usually fed me plants. Oats and wheat... I fear it is more practical that way, but I do miss the taste of meat.”

Arthur takes in a careful breath. All this talk of food is making him hungry again. He will continue to feed almost constantly for a day or two, when Morgana’s blood finally leaves his system. He is not sure whether Merlin can handle another feeding, though, and Arthur definitely doesn’t want to kill him at this point.

Merlin hasn’t noticed his change in demeanor yet. “You seem so concerned about the humans. Why don’t you drink your blood from animals, too?”

Arthur chuckles mirthlessly. “They do not provide enough sustenance. I would grow weak and die.” He had tried, early on, when the thought of killing a human still horrified him. But it couldn’t last, so Arthur had made peace with who he was.

“But my blood is good? It must be real human blood,” he mutters thoughtfully.

Arthur shakes his head and grabs Merlin’s arm. He wants more. He really wants more. “Your blood is delicious, better than human blood. Much better.”

Merlin doesn’t pull away his arm, but he wrinkles his brow. “You can’t be hungry already? Morgana always stayed sated for days after drinking from me.”

“It’s because I killed her. I drank her dry, and now I have to pay the price. My hunger is much greater than a normal vampire’s. It won’t last long, only a few days. If I live through it.” Arthur speaks flippantly, but he is getting hungrier by the second. Still, he waits, not biting Merlin’s exposed wrist. He supposes he wants some sort of permission. Merlin is forthcoming.

“Drink from me, then. You don’t deserve to die, and I can handle it. I can stay with you until your hunger fades.” Arthur starts drinking before Merlin is even done speaking. He doesn’t fight this time, just waits patiently. Arthur doesn’t take long. When he lifts his head again, Merlin has a faint smile on his face.

“What else would you do? Where would you go, if you didn’t stay with me?” Arthur challenges, feeling possessive after such an intoxicating draught.

Merlin hums in thought as he takes back his hand and rubs his wrist idly. “I’m not sure where to look, but Morgana told me there are other dragons. I want to find them. Maybe they can change me back. In the meantime, as a human, I can look, travel without causing an uproar.” He pauses and looks intently Arthur. “Do you know where the other dragons are?”

“I do not,” Arthur admits truthfully. He reaches out and strokes Merlin’s cheek, because he looks so determined, so focused, and Arthur loves that look on him. “But I know where to check first. I know where rumours are the strongest.” He stops at that, and stares back at Merlin. He wants it to be his idea.

Merlin’s eyes go bright and he nods carefully. “Come with me. Help me find my kin, and I’ll let you drink from me all you want.”

“I could just take you. Keep you, like Morgana did. Why should I bargain with you?”

Merlin’s expression doesn’t change. He’s not afraid; he never has been. Arthur likes that. “ _ Please,”  _ Merlin breathes. “I don’t want to be like this anymore.” Arthur also likes Merlin’s blood. And he likes that Merlin doesn’t die. Arthur may be a hunter, but that doesn’t mean he is a murderer. He doesn’t  _ like _ killing.

Arthur lets his fangs show again as he smiles. “Fine. You are at my mercy, but let us leave this place. We have a long journey ahead of us.” And so began his new companionship.

**Author's Note:**

> I am weirdly proud of this one. :) I know there is technically no relationship, but I like to imagine Merlin and Arthur go on adventures together and eventually fall in love. And I know this kind of just seems like the opening to a much longer story, but I don't know if I'll ever come back to it or not... let me know what you guys think of this weird AU though!


End file.
